Updraft traveling blower for cleaning overhead surfaces of enclosures



April 21, 1953 Filed April 2, 1949 G. B. HOLTZCLAW UPDRAFT TRAVELING BLOWER FOR CLEANING OVERHEAD SURFACES OF ENCLOSURES 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 Apnl 21, 1953 e. B. HOLTZCLAW 2,635,275

UPDRAFT TRAVELING BLOWER FOR CLEANING OVERHEAD SURFACES 0F ENCLOSURES Filed April 2, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Iaweniior: avovezfl; 11026202001;

fliz'oa' nqys Patented Apr. 21, 1953 UPDRAFT TRAVELING BLOWER FOR CLEANING OVERHEAD SURFACES OF ENCLOSURES Grover B. Holtzclaw, Charlotte, N. (3., assignor to Parks-Cramer Company, Fitchburg, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Application April 2, 1949, Serial No. 85,176

Claims.

This invention relates to improved apparatus for removing lint, dust, and other foreign substances from the ceiling, walls, and overhead obstructions of an enclosure, such as those of a room containing textile processing machinery from which lint, dust, and other foreign substances are carried by air currents and deposited upon the various surfaces and which, if allowed to accumulate, would drop in bunches upon the machines and the materials being treated, thereby interfering with the proper operation of the machines and affecting the uniformity of the product.

Traveling cleaners have heretofore been provided which are mounted upon tracks extending longitudinally over a series of textile machines and are provided with means for projecting currents of air downwardly upon the machines therebeneath and the material in process to blow the lint, dust, and other foreign substances away from the machines and deposit the same upon the floor. Traveling blowers with air blasts directed upward have been suspended from overhead tracks for the purpose of cleaning monitors, ceiling, and other surfaces relatively high .up in the room.

The general object of this invention is to provide an apparatus for more effectively removing lint and other foreign substances from all upper surfaces of an enclosure, that is, not only the ceiling but portions of the side walls and all overhead obstructions such as lights, conduits, piping, shafting, motors, ducts, etc., by providing a traveling blower riding above a track located just above head height and constructed and operated to direct a strong blast of air over a large overhead area and in such a way that the various walls, ceiling, lights, and other overhead surfaces and obiects will be reached progressively by air at different angles and at different intensities for more effective cleaning than has heretofore been possible by automatic means.

In some cases the traveling cleaning unit embodying the present invention is mounted upon a track which is supported from the machines being cleaned and associated with and connected to a traveling unit for projecting currents of air downwardly upon a series of machines therebeneath.

An important feature of the invention is that it permits the location of the overhead cleaner above the track on which it rides and in turn permits its blast of air to be directed quite uninterruptedly above the fan without restriction as to direction. Thus it is possible to mount the traveling unit above a relatively low track in- 2 stead of below a relatively high track as heretofore while keeping the entire installation above head height.

Another important feature enables additional thoroughness of cleaning to be secured by combining with the operation previously disclosed in overhead cleaners and with the optional additional intermittent back and forth linear movement of the whole traveling cleaner along the track the further novel movement of complete and continuous revolution of an inclined fan unit about a vertical axis which revolution likewise may be alternately in opposite directions.

The invention further provides a novel traveling blower unit for cleaning overhead surfaces and objects, suitable for mounting above a track, including a motor, means operable thereby for moving the unit along the track, a, fan mounted for rotation on a vertically inclined axis in a vertically rotating housing for projecting a blast of air diagonally upward against the surface and objects, means for rotating the fan from the motor, and suitable means for continuously rotating the housing and thus revolving the fan in a complete circle about and on the said vertical axis. Thus the velocity, direction and wide coverage of the blast of air results from the combined effects of three separate movements, namely the rotation of the fan on its inclined axis, the revolution of the fan about the vertical axis, and the horizontal linear bodily movement of the unit along the track.

These and other obiects and features of the invention will more fully appear from the following description and the accompanying drawings and will be particularly pointed out in the claims.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which,

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a textile machine or series of alinecl textile machines having a track mounted thereon and extending longitudinally thereof with a motor driven unit for projecting blasts of air downwardly upon the machines therebeneath andan independent unit connected thereto having a motor driven fan for projecting a current of air upwardly in a direction angular to the vertical, with means for automatically and continuously revolving the fan and its mounting about a vertical axis and having mechanism for simultaneously reversing the direction of travel of the connected units;

Fig. 2 is an end view of the construction shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic plan view of the typical construction shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic plan view of an alternative track arrangement illustrating parallel tracks mounted over alined series of machines, the tracks being connected by curved sections to enable the units to travel continuously in the same direction and the means connecting the traveling units being such as to permit them successively to follow the curved sections of the track;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged plan view of the up-draft cleaning unit the casing being broken away to show the mechanism for rotating the fan-supporting frame and the mechanism for driving the fan from the vertical shaft of the motor;

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the construction illustrated in Fig. 5, portions of the casing being broken away to illustrate the mechanisms therein.

The apparatus is illustrated diagrammatically in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4, as applied to a plurality of a series of alined machines having central posts 2 extending vertically upwardly from the machines in alinement and having at their upper ends brackets 3 which support parallel tracks 6. A motor driven unit 5 also may be mounted upon the tracks t, and is provided with means for propelling itself or both units along the tracks and also with means for projecting blasts of air downwardly and transversely across the machines therebeneath.

The Lip-draft cleaning unit 6 embodying the present invention, when used in combination with unit 5, is spaced from the unit 5 and connected thereto by a rod 1 which is pivotally connected at its ends to the respective units and is adapted to maintain the units continuously in suitably spaced relation, and also to permit the units to pass around curved sections 8 connecting the ends of parallel tracks 4 supported over pluralities or series of alined machines as shown in Fig. 4, or alternately to travel back and forth upon a straight track extending over a plurality of alined machines as shown in Fig. 3, with means for reversing the direction of travel at each end of the track.

The up-draft traveling cleaning unit which is shown in detail in Figs. 5 and 6 comprises a carriage 3 having suitably spaced pairs of traction wheels I mounted on the parallel tracks 4. A vertical electric motor II is mounted upon the carriage 9 and has a vertical shaft l3 provided at its lower end with a worm It which engages a worm gear I for driving the shaft I! and the wheels Ill thereon to propel the unit along the track.

A plate Ill mounted upon the upper end of the motor I! is provided with a central upwardly extending boss [9 which forms a journal for the upper end portion of the motor shaft l3, the end of which extends therethrough and has fixedly mounted thereon a pulley 2| of mechanism for driving the fan as hereinafter described.

The cylindrical boss l9 also provides an axle upon which is mounted the hub 22 of a circular spider 23 having a downwardly extending cylindrical flange 24 which is provided with internal teeth forming an annular gear. A rigid bracket which extends diametrically across the motor shaft has long and short end sections 26 and 21 which are respectively bolted to the spider 23 and an intermediate integral section 28 which is. suitably inclined to the horizontal upon which the fan is so mounted as to direct the blast of air therefrom at such angle to the vertical that when the fan in its casing is revolved completely about the vertical axis of the motor shaft, as hereinafter described, it will project the blast therefrom over a wide area of the surfaces to be cleaned.

A suitable bearing 29 for the fan shaft is provided with a flange 3a which is secured by bolts 3| to the inclined section 28 of the bracket. The fan 32 which is provided with a series of inclined blades is fixedly mounted upon the upper end of a shaft 33 which is journaled in the bearing 29 and is provided at its lower end with a pulley 34 which is driven by a belt 35 from the pulley 2| on the motor shaft. The belt 35 runs over intermediate pulleys 36 which are journaled on the respective ends of a shaft in a bracket 31 which is adjustably mounted upon the arm 26 of the bracket which extends diametrically over the motor shaft I3.

An angularly truncated casing 38 is secured in circumferentially spaced relation to the cylindrical flange 24 of the annular gear 23 by bolts 38a surrounded by spacing sleeves 38b and encloses said gear, and the mechanism for driving the fan, and has at its lower end an outwardly flanged bell-shaped mouth 43 through which air is drawn through the casing by the rotation of the fan 32. A skeleton guard 38x is mounted upon the top of the casing 38 and surrounds the fan.

Suitable means are provided for revolving the fan and its support about the vertical axis of the motor. As illustrated herein this is accomplished by a gear 4! which meshes with the internal teeth 25 of the annular gear 23 and is fixedly secured upon the upper end of a shaft 42 which is journaled in a long bearing sleeve 43 adjustably secured to the periphery of the motor II by the adjusting screw M. The shaft 42 has secured to its lower end a circular frictional disk or wheel 45 which engages the side of one of the tracks 4 upon which the unit travels.

As the unit is propelled longitudinally of the track the frictional disk 45 drives the shaft 42 and through it rotates the gear 4| in such manner as to rotate the gear 23 and the mechanism mounted thereon on the vertical axis E3 of the motor shaft. When the unit is traveling in one direction the disk is a driving agent which serves to rotate the fan-supporting frame against the tendency of the fan to rotate it in the opposite direction. When the unit is traveling in the opposite direction both the fan and the disk contribute to rotating the fan frame, the disk also serving as a brake to determine the speed of rotation. At the same time the belt 35 through the pulleys 2|, 36, and 34, drives the fan 32 at high speed. The blast from the fan is thus caused to sweep over a wide area of the surfaces to be cleaned. It is obvious that reversing the direction of travel of the unit along the track results in simultaneously reversing the direction of rotation of the fan frame. These reversals are accomplished by operation of the automatic clutch hereinafter referred to, while the fan continues to rotate on its own axis in a single direction. While in the preferred construction the inclined or diagonal direction to the vertical of the blast of air is secured by the inclined position of the fan, this inclined direction of the blast of air should not be restricted to this particular means for securing it. The essential feature is that the blast of air is directed upward at an angle inclined to the vertical and that this so inclined blast of air continuously revolves about a vertical axis thus sweeping over a wide overhead area at successively varying angles.

Usual means for supplying electric current to the motor of the traveling unit 5, when included, for projecting air downwardly upon the machines and to the motor of the up-draft cleaning unit 6 may be provided, or to the traveling up-draft cleaning unit alone in case it is only desired to clean the ceiling, walls, and overhead obstructions of the enclosure.

While the cleaning below and above the tracks is illustrated as separate units, it will be understood that the fans may be embodied in a single traveling unit driven by a single motor.

When either unit is mounted separately on a straight track, suitable known means are provided for reversing the direction of rotation of the traction wheels at the respective ends of the track such as a rod slidably mounted lengthwise of the carriage and extending at its ends beyond the respective ends of the carriage and adapted to engage suitable, preferably yieldable, abutments at the respective ends of the track and having clutch mechanism operated by the sliding movements of the rod when engaging an a'butment to reverse the direction of rotation of the traction wheels. Meanwhile the fan which is operated from the motor shaft continues always to rotate in the same direction.

Similarly reversal of the direction of movements of both connected units for respectively cleaning surfaces of machines below the track and overhead surfaces of the enclosure and other surfaces above the track where the units are mounted upon a straight track may be simultaneously effected, as shown in Fig. 1. In such case the carriage of each unit has a rod 46 slidably mounted for movement longitudinally thereof and adapted to extend beyond the respective ends of each unit, means being provided for slidably moving the rods 46 of both units when the end of the rod of either unit engages the abutment at the end of the track.

In the preferred construction shown in Fig. 1 a rod dl, which is parallel to and preferably beneath the spacing rod 1 which connects the cleaning units, is slidably supported upon the rod! by suitable hangers 48. The rod 47 has at its respective ends an enlarged head 49 adapted to engage the projecting adjacent end of the sliding rod 45 of the respective traveling units so that when the end of the rod 55 of either unit engages the abutment at the end of the track the rods 45 of both units will be slidably moved simultaneously in a direction to cause reversal of the direction of rotation of the traction wheels of both units.

In such instances most satisfactory and economical operation of the up-draft traveling cleaner unit involves the use of a well-designed form of cushioned abutment mounted on the respective ends of the track for arresting the unit or units and causing reversal of the direction of travel thereof. A preferred form of abutment is illustrated in Fig. l and comprises a bracket having a standard 50 which is mounted on the end of the track and extends upwardly therefrom and has a tubular arm 51 extending over and suitably spaced from the track in parallelism therewith. A sleeve 52, which slidably fits the tubular arm and extends beyond the end thereof, is connected to or engages a vertically depending abutment plate 53 which is positioned in the path of and adapted to be engaged by the proximate end of the reciprocable rods 45 of a traveling unit as it approaches the end of the track. A coiled spring 54 which is enclosed in the sleeve 52 and interposed between the abutment plate 53 and the end of the tubular arm 5| serves to cushion the impact of the rod 46 and the momentum of the traveling unit or units thereby avoiding the shock which might otherwise occur by abrupt arrest of the traveling units. It also serves to start the units back in the reverse direction.

In order to limit the reverse movement of the abutment plate produced by the spring. 54 when a unit begins to travel in the reverse direction and to provide means for positioning the abutment plate properly for engagement with the ends of the rod 45, a horizontal U-shaped rod is slidably mounted in the standard 50 with one arm 55 extending axially through the tubular arm 5|, the sleeve 52, and abutment plate 55, and provided at its end with a nut 56 adjustably engaging said plate. The other arm 51 of the U-shaped rod extends through a suitable hole in the standard 5!] in parallelism with the arm 5! and through the abutment plate 53 and is provided at its end with a nut 58 which adjustably engages the abutment plate 53. When therefore the abutment plate 53 is engaged by the end of the rod 45 of the travelingunit the abutment plate will be forced against the resistance of the spring 55 yieldably to arrest the units, the rods 45 of the respective units will be moved longitudinally to cause reversal of the direction of rotation of the traction wheels thereby simultaneously reversing the direction of travel of the cleaning units.

It will be understood that in case of a layout as shown in Fig. 3 such'a reversing means will be located at each end of the track.

When a unit begins to travel away from the abutment expansion of the spring 54 will force the abutment plate forwardly until the section 59 of the U-shaped rod which connects the parallel sections 55and 57 thereof engages the vertical standard of the bracket and the abutment plate will then be properly positioned again to arrest and reverse the direction of travel of said unit or units.

While it is usual to employ such reversing mechanism at each end of straight track installations they aiso may be used temporarily at intermediate points on continuous track as shown in Fig. 4 to eliminate certain areas from the cleaning operation.

By reason of the present invention the combined effect of the rotation of the fan on an axis in inclined relation to the vertical axis of the motor and its revolution about said axis provides for cleaning wide areas of the surfaces of the enclosure, whether the track upon which the unit is mounted consists of one or more pairs of parallel tracks connected by suitable bends to provide a continuous track over the machines therebeneath, or a single straight track or plurality of connected tracks terminating in ends requiring the reversal of direction of travel of the cleaning unit. It is obvious that some extra effectiveness in overhead cleaning is secured when the automatic direction-reversing mechanism is utilized because in this way various overhead points are reached by the air blast intermittently at more different angles and intensities on successive trips of the traveling unit than if the unit were always to approach from the same direction.

It will be understood that the particular embodiment of the invention shown and described herein is of an illustrative character and is not restrictive of the meaning and scope of the following claims.

Having; thus described the invention, whatis' claimed asnew', andidesiredrto' be secured by Letters Patent, is:

1'. An up-draft traveling blower. unit, for removing lint and other foreign substances from the overhead surfaces of an enclosure such as a textile'manufacturing department, mounted on and above a track. in'said'enclosure, comprising a motor driven'rotary fan, means actingto direct the blast of air from. the fan upward at an angle to the vertical, andimeans' for continuously revolvingv the air-directing means aboutv a vertical axis while the-fan: islrot'ati'ng and while the unit is propelled alongitheitrack thus to project the blastv of air progressively over a. wide overhead area and at successively different angles.

2; An up-draft traveling blower'unit, for removing lint and other foreign substances from the overhead surfaces of an enclosure such as a textile manufacturing department, mounted on and above a trackin said enclosure, comprising a motor; means connected to the motor for moving the unit along the track, a fan-supporting frame, means'fo'r'rotating'the frame continuously about a vertical axis; a: fan" mounted in the frame on: an" axis inclined to the vertical, and means for rotating the fan as it is bodily revolved by the frame aboutthe' vertical axis thereof thus to project the blast of airiovera wide overhead area and at successively different angles.

3'. An up-draft. traveling blower for removing lint and other foreign substance from the overhead surfaces of: an enclosure, comprising a unit mounted on wheels. for traveling on a track in said enclosure, a motor, means connected to the motor for moving the unit along the track, a frame mounted to rotate on a vertical axis, a fan mounted on the frame to rotate on an axis inclined to the Vertical acting to project a blast of air diagonally upward, means for rotating the fan from said motor, a wheel for frictionally engaging the track, a gear driven by said wheel, and an annular rack on and concentric with the axis of said frame driven by said gear acting to rotate the frame continuously and completely about its axis as the unit is propelled along the track.

4. An updraft traveling blower for removing lint and other foreign substance from the overhead surfaces of an enclosure, comprising a unit for traveling on. and above a track in said enclosure, a motor, means connected to the motor for 3' moving'the unita'longthetrack, a framemounted torotate on a vertical axis, an air-directing casing' member projecting from the frame a fan mounted to' rotate, on an axis inclined tov the vertical and thus acting to project a blast of air diagonally upward, means for rotating the, fan from the motor, an annular gear on, the frame concentric with its axis, a friction wheel for engaging the track, a. gear meshing with theannular gear of the frame driven by the friction wheel, with the said mechanism acting, as the unit travels along the track, to rotate theframe continuously and completely about its vertical axis and thus to revolve the fan about the said vertical axis and effect an efficient sweeping action of the air blast over a wide area resulting from the combined. movements of the fan, the frame, and

the unit as it travels on the track.

5. An updraft traveling blower for removing lint and. other foreign. substance from the overhead surfaces of an enclosure, comprising a unit for traveling on and above a track in said enclosure, a motor, meansconnected to the motor-formoving the unit along the track, frame mounted to rotate on a vertical axis, a fan mounted on the frame to rotate on an axis inclined to the vertical and thus acting to project a blast of air diagonally upward, a casing on the frame acting to direct the air to the fan, means for rotating the fan from the motor, and means for continuousiy rotating the frame on its axis thus causing the inclined, fan to revolve about said axis as the unit. moves along the track with the said mechanism acting to effect an efiicient sweeping action of the air blast over a wide area resulting from the combined movements of the rotation of the fan on its inclined axis, the revolution of the fan about the vertical axis of the frame, and the linear travel of the frame on the track.

GROV'ER B. HOLTZCLAW.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,517,961 Cummings Dec. 2, 1924 1,920,768 Smith Aug. 1, 1933 2,011,763 Hodge et al. Aug. 20, 1935 2,047,558 Hodge July 14, 1936 2,179,976 Easley Nov. 14, 1939 2,183,758 Walker Dec. 19, 1939 2,516,475 Miller July 25, 1950 

